Besides the fact that they're history to me,
I just think they're beautiful.
For a long time, I thought they were too beautiful.
Beauty is a problem sometimes in art making.
In the '70s, the rest of the world thought that beauty was a weakness;
but the reality is, it's a strength.
I think, just as other things have changed in the world,
things come around, you know.
[CURATOR] --So exciting, I'm dying to see this.
[LAUGHS]
--That is beautiful.
--Oh my gosh, Barbara, this is exciting. I love it!
[KASTEN] --I'm going to work with this again, I'm sure.
--I like it. Yeah, I like it.
This was my first attempt at photography.
It's called cyanotype.
It's a liquid emulsion that's a mix of iron and bleach.
Any object can be placed on it and exposed in sunlight.
When it's washed, it turns blue.
Blue is such a spiritual color.
I love the fact that this blue can be so intense.
In the '70s, when I was teaching textile sculpture,
I needed a way to demonstrate how to take a flat woven surface
and make a three-dimensional form.
And I found this window screening.
When I saw how two layers make a beautiful moiré
I thought of this cyanotype process, and experimented with that.
It's very easy.
It didn't require a darkroom.
I liked the idea that it was more like a printmaking process;
but, it happened to be a photographic recording.
I just knew that there was something special about these works.
I just put them away for a while.
I didn't want them out in the world without some sort of recognition as a body of work.
I still have an affinity for materials.
I still respond to the transparencies and textures of different surfaces.
At that point in time, I really had a freedom.
I didn't know anything about photography.
Now I think I know too much about photography.
It was a more experimental time, in a different way.